When Ivy and I joined a pre-school co-op with some friends, she needed a backpack. I had wanted to make her a backpack for a little while, so she could carry her own stuff and make my overflowing diaper bag that much lighter. I looked at several backpack patterns and tutorials. I didn't really want to spend the money on a pattern (remember I'm a cheap-o?). A backpack involved things I knew how to do, but was still a little nervous about. But because I really wanted it to turn out well, I ended up purchasing the toddler backpack pattern from Made by RAE, rather than doing it from a tutorial. I’m so glad I did. I made the larger school age version of the toddler backpack, which is simple to do and clearly shown in the pattern instructions.
I was overall very happy with the pattern and only did two things differently.
The first was I used a sport zipper instead of an all-purpose to give the backpack some extra durability. If you do a sport zipper you have to be careful to stop your zipper a half inch from both ends of the zipper panel to account for seam allowances.
The second thing I did differently was when attaching the side panels to the bottom panel I basted it first to see how it fit with the front panel and once I had it just right I reinforced it with a straight stitch. That way it saved me some time when I needed to rip out and readjust. I opted for finishing my seams with bias tape, rather than a lining or zig-zagging. The bias tape makes everything so neat and complete on the inside.
My friend Beth and I made one up for her son Nathaniel too. Isn't it darling? I just love the lime green with the navy and the adorable appliqué N.
This is a great size for a pre-schooler. Big enough for regular size paper, but not so big that it comes down past their knees. And there is plenty of room for all the extra things Ivy takes along with us. It was especially nice to have on our most recent trip to California to visit family.
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